Its a visa run before going back to Samui.

there's kite surfing in phuket

The buses from the bus station are definitely legit but I've heard no joke at least 20 stories of people having things stolen on buses out of Khao San, it is an everyday occurrence. Far as going the other way I have never heard anything headed to Khao San but I'd imagine they are the same buses and companies so I wouldn't trust them. DOn't know

No, I am from Northridge and don't like earthquakes. They scare the **** out of me. The VIP buses and sleeper trains in Thailand are very comfortable

A cheap flight is more than 3x the cost of the VIP bus, if you get lucky. I travel overland, that's how I roll. 10 hours isn't a long bus ride for me

No, they do not cram the VIP buses from Mo Chit, the bags are nowhere near you, and you have tons of space. Your statement is 100% false. You are talking about a different bus

I could give a **** if somebody wants to fly but the quality of buses and trains in Thailand is very good. Personally I prefer to hitchhike, which Thailand is also very good for--but I have done this trip a few times, bkk is hard to hh out of, sorta, too much work. I would never consider flying from bkk to chiang mai myself. Chiang Mai to Phuket or Krabi sure

When I took the VIP bus from BKK to CM, it was maybe 10% full.

I just took another overnight VIP bus from Krabi to BKK and it was pretty nice as well. It was one of those buses that blares music on the outside and has a ton of lights like a Christmas tree. But inside it was very quiet, big and comfortable seats that reclined quite a lot, someone brought a DVD for the driver to let us watch, and the bus looked pretty nice with fresh flowers, decorative curtains, and blankets. It was quite OK.

I decided to take the bus because I didn't want to d*ck around with Air Asia and all their stipulations or research other Thailand airlines at the last minute. I priced some plane tickets now and they would be about 7,000 for 2 vs 1800 for the bus. And with Air Asia, you will likely get screwed with their Lilliput 7 kg carry on limit or whatever it is, and you will wonder if your US credit card processes when booking on the site. (often doesn't).

That said, I do think flying is probably a better option. Bus and train are for the one time experience, not for regular use, IMO. (unless you are on a tight budget and have more time than money) Taking the bus will give you the experience of seeing how buses drive here, and the train to CM is supposed to go around some nice mountain scenery. Both are probably worth doing once, but not twice.

3bb premier internet is very very solid, best internet i have ever had not close, including in America. we have true ultra-hispeed and it has problems loading basic web pages a lot, but has great download speeds, its our backup.

Been on the sleeper train bkk-><--CM twice and its pretty miserable and uncomfortable, being bumped around nonstop, constnatly loading/unloading people, sleeping next to a freezing steel wall in a mini bed (VIP room), dirtiest toilet i have ever seen, ****ty food

not in phuket, not anymore.

You got me sold, you got a website for the company?

yeah, but you have to live close to Nai Yang to kite surf at this time of the year. Which is pretty fare from anything else.

wind moves down to rawai mid-october

can anyone recommend a place to stay on a month-to-month basis in BKK? (that is, no contract, just security deposit)

sukhumvit area ideally. i've been staying in a place like this on several previous stints but would like something a little nicer this time.

^this place I used to live allows short term rentals, not quite sukhumvit but a few MRT stops away, 15 mins by taxi in 5am traffic. quiet area, nice + cheap, great staff

www.sitaraplace.com

A few 2p2ers have stayed here before

http://www.sarannuch.com/

there's a bunch of service appartments in sukumvit area. what is ur price range? there are some ghetto studios on soi 22 for 12k/month or they go as high as nice high high service appartments on soi 24 for 35k/month

traffic is really bad goin from ladprao to sukumvit unless your goin from like 12am - 5am. usally during the day it takes 30mins to an hour

Our 3BB premier is the stone cold nuts. We never have any disconnects.

I'm confused about this whole kweb shopping card thing. Is it an actual card? b/c i applied for one and it seems like it's just all online. Does it just enable my debit card to make online purchases (poker deposits)?

anyone else that has 3bb (premier or standard package in phuket): how has your connection been in the last month?

so confused now

I have the basic package, have been working perfectly.
A buddy of mine mentioned today, that he have had several problems the last week or so (also basic package), but that could be anything.

ours has been v.good all month. (premier)

There is no physical card. You use none of the details from your privileged member card.

All the details are online and you have to log on to K-Bank website to get them each time. Think it takes 1-2 days to activate from when you apply.

hope you are talking about 5am traffic because you closed down Scratch Dog or Climax and not because you woke up early.

Living so far out that you will not been able to close down Spicy 2 because of traffic problems is far from ideal

ldo

best provider for mobile internet in BKK?

I would like to buy a SIM card and use my smartphone as a modem for my laptop pretty much on arrival in BKK until I've found an appartment with internet,
then I want to use it as backup or if the place's internet sucks as main connection.

Since I don't know yet if I will use the mobile internet much past the first month or so I would obv prefer a prepaid plan, won't really use sms or voice much either.

In case I do decide to use the mobile internet as main connection is a monthly plan way better than prepaid?